He had never handed over his messes to be taken care of by someone else. To be frank, Lukas’ role had always been the opposite.
He even took care of the messes that he didn’t cause. He had to.
There was no setting of a heroic sense of sacrifice behind that. It was simply that there was no one else who could take care of it apart from Lukas.
If he ignored it, a city would sink into the depths of evil, the fate of a country would be shaken, or an entire world would be destroyed…
─Why are you taking care of someone else’s shit?
─What?
─It has nothing to do with you.
It didn’t have nothing to do with him.
As long as he knew about it, it couldn’t have nothing to do with him.
If he were to turn away, he would be haunted by guilt for the rest of his life.
And in all honesty, he was much more comfortable taking care of it himself than leaving it to someone else. He found it hard.
Because of that, there was a point in time when Lukas was surprisingly unable to trust anyone.
But not today.
The Demon King and the Demon God were things that Lukas should have taken care of. Even if Lukas didn’t take full responsibility, he should have at least been more deeply involved than Yang In-hyun.
And yet, he left Yang In-hyun there.
That fact made Lukas feel strange, but it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be.
—.
The vibrations of the air, or the screams of space.
He could feel a sensation on his back that couldn’t be properly described in words.
Yang In-hyun and the Demon God had begun to fight in earnest.
And yet, Lukas didn’t look back. Instead, he suppressed his attention from going behind him.
The probability that Yang In-hyun could defeat the Demon God?
To be honest, it was low. Enough to fight a thousand times and only win once. No, even that much could be considered the most optimistic perspective.
[Yang In-hyun is probably already risking his life in battle with the Demon God.]
He heard the Lightning God’s voice.
[In the end, that guy probably would have won, but his body is already a mess. The Demon God probably appeared as soon as he was certain of his victory and let his guard down. Borrowing the Demon King’s body.]
‘…’
[Lukas Trowman, would you condemn the Demon God’s actions as cowardly?]
‘No.’
Lukas shook his head.
That was a meaningless action, a useless expenditure of emotion.
In any case, no matter how much he insisted on the matter, it would be impossible to awaken feelings of guilt in the Demon God. After all, that was what a Ruler was like in the first place.
[Interesting.]
The Lightning God spoke in an interested voice.
[You are gaining a deeper understanding of Rulers.]
‘I guess that makes us even.’
[What?]
‘Aren’t you also gaining an understanding about humans?’
[…]
At that moment, Lukas could feel the Lightning God’s surprise.
In this state, Lukas and the Lightning God were not just sharing senses. They were also experiencing an assimilation of emotions to an extent.
[You…]
The Lightning God tried to say something and stopped. Because he had arrived at his destination. So Lukas was no longer curious about what the Lightning God would say.
The scene that was unfolding was a scene that far exceeded his expectations, making him speechless.
“…this.”
At some point.
Lukas realised that he could no longer hear the noise from the battlefield. That’s why he sped up even more and had no choice but to be grateful for Yang In-hyun’s help.
Nevertheless, his anxiety hadn’t eased.
—No way, could the battle have ended already?
It could only mean the death or annihilation of one side.
And as soon as he saw this scene, Lukas realised the reason.
There were a lot of corpses around.
These weren’t the corpses of ordinary people from the city. Each and every one of the scattered corpses belonged to a powerful being who at least surpassed Dok Go-yun. They were probably the comrades Diablo had gathered from the conjoined universes.
There were a few that were familiar to him. It wasn’t to the level of being called acquaintances. There were members of the Circle from Lukas’ home universe. Beings from the same universe as Lukas.
And among the corpses.
Was Diablo.
“…”
Diablo was laying on the ground with his bottom half completely shattered. He couldn’t feel his uniquely gloomy and decayed aura. At first glance, he looked like an ordinary skeleton.
Lukas went up to Diablo and knelt down on one knee, looking into his black eye sockets.
“What happened?”
[…]
“Diablo, didn’t you say you would wait for me?”
Faded ghostly flames flickered in the dark holes.
The ghostly flames, which burned frighteningly not so long ago, now seemed like candles on the verge of being extinguished. This seemed to be a visual representation of Diablo’s vitality.
[…I did.]
His voice was faint, as if it would be cut off at any moment.
…Diablo might soon die.
Lukas couldn’t help but feel the absurdity of that fact.
“Who made you like this?”
Pausing for a moment, Lukas asked.
“Was it Pale?”
[It wasn’t the Blue Knight. Raise your senses a bit more and focus on the surroundings… You, will know who it was that created this scene.]
…Diablo.
Knew who was responsible for this. And yet, instead of telling him his name, he was telling him to think for himself.
This wasn’t meant to tease or mock him.
So Lukas just did as he said.
“…”
Once again, he took a look at the surroundings and accelerated his mind.
Diablo’s eyes flashed with surprise as he looked at Lukas.
[You changed so much in that instant. Enough to accept my advice. How else did you grow?]
“Well.”
Lukas shook his head and responded roughly. His speculation came to an end.
“It was a Wizard.”
[That’s right… a Wizard who is only second to you. And also copies your name.]
“Someone that copies my name….”
Lukas’ expression changed.
“Are you talking about the ‘Lukas Trowman’ that is active in this world?”
Diablo nodded weakly.
[…a dangerous being. The magic that spewed from his hands was even more so. I couldn’t even respond to anything he did before my body became like this. Even my Black Knight, Lucid.]
“…!”
[As soon as that ‘Lukas’ appeared, he launched an indiscriminate attack in every direction. By the time I arrived, half of my companions were already dead.]
“What is that guy’s goal?”
[I don’t know. ‘Lukas’ left after making a mess of this place.]
“Where”
Diablo’s gaze turned towards the sky.
Then, his gaze slowly lowered.
[…I do not see any more confusion in you, Lukas Trowman. I know one thing. You won’t accept my negotiation, right?]
“Well.”
Lukas murmured.
“There is no specific way to deal with the apocalypse. Nevertheless, I couldn’t accept your offer nor the Demon God’s offer.”
After saying that, he felt that it wasn’t enough, so he added.
“What can I say? It just happens to be like that.”
[Kuku. I like your calm attitude. I know. It’s not easy to be like that after knowing everything… At least I couldn’t be like that.]
Diablo’s voice gradually faded.
[…how unfortunate. I wanted to see what your choice would be. Then I…]
“…”
[…you, will you remember my death?]
Before Lukas could answer, Diablo’s skull scattered like ash. Lukas unknowingly retracted his half outstretched hand.
Then, his eyes turned up to the sky. To the place where Diablo’s eyes were just directed.
[Next Stage]
The fight on the artificial island floating in the sky continued.
* * *
Sometimes she wondered.
Did she really have a childhood?
Her first memory was hunger. She didn’t even know that the pang in her stomach was called that, so at first she only knew it as pain.
Hunger, which never disappeared no matter what she did, constantly ate away at her mind. If possible, she wished she could tear out her stomach to take out the source of the pain.
—Eating anything would make it feel better.
This unpleasant voice sounded in her head from time to time.
Sometimes, the voice bothered her more than the pain in her stomach.
However, those words were true.
Because when she chewed something, or swallowed something, she could forget her hunger. The moment was fleeting, but as a result, she couldn’t help but be addicted to eating.
In a life filled with pain, the temptation of that moment was very sweet.
Nevertheless, there was a fact that she knew instinctively.
This pain would probably not go away.
It would follow her for the rest of her life, and even after death.
‘Why me?’
She cursed the world, cursed her fate.
She screamed until she became hoarse and her throat bled. In the process, she realised another fact.
Nothing would get better.
“Are you okay?”
“I brought you something to eat.”
Her parents, whose faces she couldn’t remember, were always gentle with her.
They were rarely at home, but she knew it was because of her. Because of her abnormal appetite, the two of them probably worked from dawn to dawn. Even so, they never complained about her.
It’s okay.
We love you.
The two things she heard the most.
…She also wanted to help.
She wanted to endure her hunger and do something.
So she went out and worked.
“You crazy bitch!”
“What will we do if you eat that?”
The situation got worse.
She couldn’t help herself when food was placed in front of her. It was far more than a matter of patience.
In addition, if she moved her body even a little, the side effect would be that she would become insanely hungry.
She, she…
She couldn’t take it.
She collapsed, cried, and still wanted something to eat. One day, she hit herself to the point of bruising her stomach. Nevertheless, nothing got better.
She didn’t want to do it anymore, so she wanted to die, but she couldn’t. Her body didn’t die. The pain just got worse.
She could clearly tell that she was strange. Even the word monster was not enough to describe her.
She was certain that her parents were the same.
However.
“It’s okay.”
Mother said.
“It’s okay.”
Father said.
“It’s not your fault.”
“You did nothing wrong.”
The two, who were now old and no longer had the energy to work, said.
“Come here.”
“There’s still something to eat.”
Laying on the hospital bed, gesturing to her with weak hands.
No, there wasn’t.
Now, at home, there was no ‘food’.
With trembling hands, she covered her eyes.
—Eating anything would make it feel better
And yet, she still heard the voice.
She wanted to ignore it. She hated it.
Until now, the thing she resented was the hunger, but at that moment, the thing she hated was eating in itself. To do that here, she…
“Sorry. Daughter.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“I wanted to give you something delicious to eat.”
“Without end, to your heart’s content…”
Those were the last words she heard.
—A red skinned girl.
Butterfly was her.
That child couldn’t bear her hunger either, so she ate something that should never be eaten. She committed the same original sin, an act that could never be forgiven.
She saw that scene. No, she made it happen.
That’s why it was even more pitiful, pathetic, and why she couldn’t look away—.
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